Shanghai Tower - Here are the innovative building solutions that form the heart of China's tallest building

Innovative solutions contribute to Shanghai Tower, the first super high-rise building with dual green building certifications in China.

Shanghai Tower, China's tallest and most sustainable super high-rise building, includes several of Johnson Controls ' building technologies, contributing to its high energy-efficiency and its achievement of being the first green building in China certified with both LEED Gold and Three-Star Green Building Design Label.

After eight years of construction and opening in phases in 2016, the tower features 43 sustainable technologies overall, including more than 10 YORK® chillers and heat pumps, a Metasys® building management system (BMS) and a Johnson Controls central performance management system (CPMS) in the building's central heating and cooling plant.

“We were looking for operational synergy between our HVAC and building controls systems, an objective which Johnson Controls has deep experience and expertise in. Also, Johnson Controls was able to customise the solution for us to meet our unique requirements, including a significantly smaller operating footprint. Throughout the process, the company provided excellent and prompt service. We look forward to the high performance of the solutions from Johnson Controls and achieving our energy efficiency targets,” said a representative from Shanghai Tower.

The customised CPMS controls the tower's cooling and heating system, which accounts for 30 per cent of the energy consumed by the building. The system performs real-time complex calculations to optimise energy use based on the current workload and operating conditions, improving the building's energy efficiency in the process.

The 2,073-ft tower also relies on nine YK water-cooled centrifugal chillers, three YK dual-operation water-cooled centrifugal chillers and one YEWS screw geothermal heat pump to provide heating and cooling throughout the nearly 4.1 million-sq-ft skyscraper. The super-high-rise in the real-world conditions creates less-than-ideal circumstances for capacity when they go into operation. The YORK® YK centrifugal chiller units from Johnson Controls have been designed to be highly efficient at full capacity, even more efficient at non-full capacity. For instance, the highly efficient YK dual-operation centrifugal chiller consumes just 0.747 kW per tonne of energy under design conditions and 0.629 kW per tonne under real-world conditions.

The Metasys® BMS monitors and controls the building environment around the clock. In addition to integrating environmental control subsystems including variable air volume, energy management, fire management and security – so they communicate with one another, the BMS enables timely intervention through a real-time display of building data and intelligent analysis to support building management and maintenance.

“We are happy to bring a wealth of experience to the Shanghai Tower project, where we have successfully combined our proven strengths in CPMS, BMS and HVAC building solutions,” said Elvis Chan , Vice President and General Manager, Johnson Controls Building Technologies & Solutions China. “Johnson Controls has a long history of providing energy-saving solutions to many of the world's landmarks, including the Empire State Building, Japan's Abeno Harukas skyscraper and the world's tallest building, Khalifa Tower in Dubai. We are looking forward to our future collaboration with building constructors and managers to create a green, smart, and comfortable working and living environment.”

With community spaces, sky gardens, retail shops, restaurants, hotels and urban amenities stacked vertically, Shanghai Tower creates an innovative and comfortable experience for living and working in the skyscraper. In addition to its eye-catching architectural design, the building's tapered, spiral form minimizes wind loads by as much as 24 per cent to help the building withstand the typhoon-force winds common in Shanghai.